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Beastie Boys win $1.7 million in copyright battle

By:
WENN.com
Jun 05, 2014

The Beastie Boys have been awarded $1.7 million (£1.06 million) in damages for copyright infringement. The hip-hop group's lawyer, Kevin Puvalowski, had been seeking at least $2 million (£1.2 million) in compensation from bosses at Monster Beverage Corp., after they admitted to using the rappers' songs without permission in a 2012 online video tribute to late band member Adam 'MCA' Yauch.
The defendant's attorney, Reid Kahn, claimed his clients incorrectly thought they had the authority to use the music, which included hits Sabotage and Make Some Noise, and on Wednesday (04Jun14) asked jurors at New York's Manhattan federal court to award the band no more than $125,000 (£78,000), as the Beastie Boys' demands were "contrary to common sense".
However, the jurors sided with the legendary rap stars when they delivered their verdict on Thursday (05Jun14).
The decision wrapped up an eight-day trial, during which surviving members Michael 'Mike D' Diamond and Adam 'Ad-Rock' Horovitz took the stand to give evidence and revealed they had promised their late bandmate that they would fight any commercial exploitation of the band's music.

A lawyer representing the Beastie Boys has urged jurors overseeing his clients' copyright infringement trial to award the band at least $2 million (GBP1.2 million) in damages. In his closing arguments on Wednesday (04Jun14), Kevin Puvalowski stated that bosses at Monster Beverage Corp's use of the trio's songs without a license in an online video was "absolutely egregious".
Bandmates Michael 'Mike D' Diamond and Adam 'Ad-Rock' Horovitz, who previously testified in the case, were spectators in the Manhattan courtroom as Puvalowski told jurors Monster bosses had hoped to benefit from how "cool" his clients' had become.
The 2012 video appeared as a tribute to late band member Adam 'MCA' Yauch, but it failed to impress the Beastie Boys, who are very protective of how and where their music is used.
Monster's lawyer Reid Kahn acknowledged his clients had infringed the Beastie Boys' copyrights, but insisted they incorrectly thought they had permission to use the music.
Kahn told the court that the band's demands for damages were "contrary to common sense", and asked jurors to award the band no more than $125,000 (GBP78,000).

The surviving members of the Beastie Boys have vowed not to record new music under the group's name after making a promise to late rapper Adam 'Mca' Yauch before his death in 2012. The hip-hop trio has not released any new material since 2011 album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, and Michael 'Mike D' Diamond reveals fans won't be hearing anything else from the Beastie Boys now that co-founder Yauch is no longer alive.
He revealed the news during a New York court hearing in the band's ongoing copyright infringement battle against the bosses of Monster Beverage Corp, who stand accused of using five of the band's tracks in a promotional video without permission. During his testimony on Friday (30May14), Diamond admitted he and Adam 'Ad-Rock' Horovitz had made a vow with Yauch to prevent any new music being released without each member's input.
Testifying at Manhattan Federal Court, the Sabotage hitmaker said, "We have not been able to tour since MCA, Adam Yauch, died. We can't make new music." Diamond returned to the witness stand on Monday (02Jun14), when defence lawyer Dana Susman attempted to depict the band as hypocrites after the rapper claimed they had turned down "a lot of money" after producers behind Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent film Sabotage asked them for permission to use their 1994 song of the same name.
Diamond revealed they had rejected the offer because they "weren't fans of Mr. Schwarzenegger's recent... work", but Susman called the rapper out and suggested they had subsequently backtracked as their song was used as the action man's walk on music during a recent appearance on America's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Susman alleged the band had received a fee of $600 (£375) in exchange for allowing a snippet of the track to be used, but Diamond insisted he had no knowledge of the deal and claimed any agreement would have been because they are "fans of that show", reports the New York Daily News. The Beastie Boys had previously performed on Fallon's previous programme, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, prior to Yauch's death.

The Beastie Boys rejected a big money deal to allow the producers of Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent movie Sabotage to use their song of the same name - because they aren't fans of the action star. Michael 'Mike D' Diamond made the revelation in a New York courtroom last week (ends30May14) as he testified in the band's ongoing copyright infringement case against the bosses of Monster Beverage Corp, who stand accused of using five of the hip-hop icons' tracks in a promotional video without their permission.
The promo was posted online days after the 2012 death of founding Beastie Boys star Adam 'MCA' Yauch, who had made it clear in his will that he didn't want his likeness or art used in any advertisements following his passing.
During his testimony at Manhattan Federal Court, the rapper used the Schwarzenegger film offer to demonstrate how picky the group is when it comes to allowing its work to be used for promotional purposes, admitting movie chiefs had offered the stars "a lot of money" to use the 1994 hit on the soundtrack.
He explained, "We felt it was too much of an endorsement, and we weren't fans of Mr. Schwarzenegger's recent... work."
The movie Sabotage bombed at the U.S. box office upon its release in March (14), grossing just $5.3 million (£3.31 million) in its opening weekend, making it the worst debut for a Schwarzenegger film in over 30 years.

Beastie Boys star Adam 'Ad-Rock' Horovitz took the stand in New York on Wednesday (28May14) as the band's copyright infringement case against the bosses of Monster Beverage Corp went to trial. Ad-Rock and bandmate Michael 'Mike D' Diamond filed suit against the company last year (13), claiming executives used five of the hip-hop trio's tracks in a promotional video without permission.
The tribute montage was posted online days after the death of founding Beastie Boys star Adam 'MCA' Yauch, who had made it clear in his will that his likeness or art would not be used in any advertisements.
The Ruckus in the Rockies video debuted at a snowboarding event in Canada and ended with the words "RIP MCA", but the rapper's bandmates were not impressed with the promo and they have sued for $1 million (£625,000) in damages for the song usage and an additional $1 million (£625,000) for "implied endorsement".
Testifying in Manhattan on Wednesday, Ad-Rock gave the court a brief history of his band before answering defence questions.
The trial is expected to last a week.

Beastie Boys star Adam 'Ad-Rock' Horovitz is expected to testify in the band's copyright infringement case against Monster Energy Drink this week (begs26May14). The rapper, Mike Diamond and their bandmate Adam Yauch's widow, Denchen Yauch, filed a suit against the company in 2012, claiming bosses had used a number of songs, including Sabotage and Make Some Noise, in a promotional video at the Ruckus Festival in Canada without permission.
Horovitz is scheduled to appear appear at Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse in New York City on 27 May (14), when he'll represent the Beastie Boys, who are seeking financial damages of $150,000 (GBP94,000) for each infringement, as well as a permanent injunction.
In their suit, the band's lawyers state, "The public was confused into believing that plaintiffs sponsored, endorsed and are associated with defendant Monster in promoting defendant Monster's productions and promotional events".
The court battle comes just months after the Beastie Boys settled a copyright infringement suit over the use of their song Girls in a viral ad for toy firm GoldieBlox.
Company bosses issued an apology to the group, published in small print at the bottom of their website, admitting they should have contacted the band before deciding to use the song in their advert.

Beastie Boys star Mike Diamond introduced the Brooklyn Nets starting line-up before the team's home play-off game with the Miami Heat on Monday night (12May14). He joined Jay Z and Beyonce, among other celebrities, at the game, which the Nets lost.

Wiz Khalifa made history on U.S. TV on Monday night (07Apr14) when he took part in the first televised sign language rap battle. The new dad performed his hit Black & Yellow on late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! as three confident, nationally-certified U.S. sign language interpreters attempted to keep up with him, one at a time.
The three women were not new to interpreting rap rhymes - they had collectively worked with Wu-Tang Clan, Beastie Boys, Snoop Dogg and Eminem, among others.
And Wiz revealed he sometimes works with a sign language interpreter onstage at gigs, joking, "Sometimes I get pretty stoned (and) I can't remember the words."

The Monks frontman Gary Burger has died, aged 70. The singer lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on 14 March (14).
Burger began his career in a band called the Torquays, which he formed in the 1960s along with a group of fellow U.S. soldiers while stationed in Germany. They later changed their name to The Monks and shaved circles into their hair and adopted cassock-style costumes.
The cult rock group was known for its individual sound which was considered a precursor to the punk movement. They toured with acts including Jimi Hendrix, The Kinks and The Troggs, but only released one album, 1966's Black Monk Time, before splitting in the late 1960s.
They were hailed as a major influence by later bands including the Beastie Boys, Green Day and the White Stripes, and one of their songs was featured in the Cohen brothers' movie The Big Lebowski in 1998, prompting a reunion in 1999 which was halted by the death of drummer Roger Johnston in 2004.
The Monks were the subject of a documentary film, Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback, and a tribute album which featured acts including Gossip and British rockers The Fall, who recorded with Burger.
In his later years, Burger served as mayor of Turtle River, a city in Minnesota.

Pop star Bjork helped to raise $310,000 (£193,750) for environmental organisations in her native Iceland on Tuesday (18Mar14) by teaming up with rocker Patti Smith and singer Lykke Li for a special benefit gig. The artists hit the stage at the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik to celebrate the local premiere of Russell Crowe's new Biblical epic Noah, which was filmed in the country, and protest against anti-conservationist policy changes proposed by the nation's leaders.
Smith's set included a tribute rendition of the late Lou Reed's Perfect Day, and she also used her performance to issue an emotional plea to fans to help preserve Iceland's highlands, which are under renewed threat of industrial development.
She told the crowd, "I came here first as a young girl, aged 22 years old, way back in 1969. Of all the beautiful places I visited back then, many have since been destroyed by man. To come back to Iceland and still find much of the country as I found it then is a gift."
She added, "Industry has raped nature again and again - there has to be some place where Mother Nature feels safe and beloved. Iceland is one of the few places in the world where Mother Nature can feel herself. Once this damage is done, that can never come back. In this matter, count me as one of your servants."
She later helped Bjork close the Let's Protect the Park gig by joining her and Li onstage for a cover of the Beastie Boys' appropriately-titled Sabotage.
Proceeds from the charity show will help officials at Iceland Nature Conservation Association and Landvernd, the Icelandic Environment Association, protect various nature sites across the country.